Rush offer new-look roster

December 18, 2006 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Edmonton Rush News Release


Edmonton, AB--- The Edmonton Rush enter their second National Lacrosse League season and the "Attitude is Everything Era" with hopes of finding much greater success than in their inaugural year.

To achieve that goal, the Rush's 2007 roster is bolstered by an offence featuring newly acquired veteran scoring talent, a defence anchored by Team Captain Andrew Turner, and solid goaltending from 2006 Team MVP Pat Campbell.

With the names in place and the lineup ready for the season opener Jan. 6 against the Philadelphia Wings, there is good reason for optimism about a potential playoff berth in '07. But instead GM/Head Coach Paul Day has his troop focused on letting the Wings know that Rexall Place won't be any easy spot to stop for visiting teams like was in '06 when the Rush went 0-8 at home.

"I'm not worrying at all about where we're going to finish the year. I'm worrying about getting our first home win," said Day. "Before our first game last year, I think most of the questions in the city were focused on whether we could make the playoffs in our first year and a lot of people maybe got ahead of themselves."

"I'm focused on getting that winning feeling around here and that includes winning our final exhibition game Dec. 30 in Lethbridge against Calgary."

Breaking down the roster, Day certainly expects his offence to rack up more than it did in '06 when a league-low 150 goals was all it generated. To fix that problem, the Rush made several off-season moves to acquire some help and those deals landed the club proven veteran scorers in Dan Stroup, Chris Gill, Ryan O'Connor, Jason Wulder and A.J. Shannon.

Combine their experience and ability to find the net with the skills of the Rush's three top scorers from last season - Jamey Bowen, Jimmy Quinlan and Kevin Howard - and the Rush will undoubtedly be better on the attack.

"We've made a huge improvement on the offensive end and this is a group that is going to create a lot of chances," noted Day. "They are also tough enough to fight tooth and nail for every goal we get in every game."

The Rush's defence, led by Captain Andrew Turner, is a year wiser and a year better having battled through many difficult nights in 2006. The group features 2006 NLL All-Star Game representative Cam Bergman, veteran Rob Williams and a tough twosome in Daryl Welsh and Buck Stobart.

"Last year there was so much pressure put on our defence and goaltending because we had to play so much defence but we're going to be able to take the pressure off them this year because we'll have better ball possession and we'll score more goals," offered Day.

"We got banged up back there last year because we had to play too much on defence but that group got a year under its belt and a good year of experience."

Between the pipes, the Rush return popular netminder Pat Campbell who totaled 456 saves in '06. He is joined by new backup Kurtis Wagar, the Rush's top pick in the 2006 NLL Entry Draft.

2007 Edmonton Rush Roster

Goaltenders

Pat Campbell, Kurtis Wagar

Defence/Transition

Mac Allen, Cam Bergman, Rory Glaves, Darren Hillier, Chris McElroy, Jamie Roy, Buck Stobart, Andrew Turner, Daryl Welsh, Rob Williams

Forwards

D'Arcy Berthiaume, Jamey Bowen, Randy Daly, Chris Gill, Kevin Howard, Ted Jenner, Cory Melville, Ryan O'Connor, Jimmy Quinlan, A.J. Shannon (currently on Disabled List due to injury), Dan Stroup, Jason Wulder

Practice Roster

Patrick Cardiff, Peter Gut, Chris Stachniak

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING and with the complement of new players, new promotions and new entertainment on tap to solidify that a night out at lacrosse will be everything a fan wants and more.



National Lacrosse League Stories from December 18, 2006


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central